Envelope-machine



(No Model.) -s sheets-sheet 1l.

- C).v H. HEYWO-OD. BNVELOPB MAGHINE.

No. 516,811. .Patented Mar. 2o, 1894.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. H. HBYWOOD. ENVELOPE MAG-EINE.

No. 516,811.` Patented Mar. zo, 1894.v

UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

CHARLES H. HEYl/VOOD, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS ASSIGNOR TO- THE NATIONAL ENVELOPE COMPANY, OF NEV JERSEY.

ENVELOPE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 516,811, dated March 20, 1894.

Application filed February 16, 1892. Serial No.` 421,759. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. HEYWOOD,

a citizen of the United States of America, re'.

y and to the construction ofthe end flap gummer mechanism.

'I-Ieretofore difficulty has been experienced in the application of a uniform supply of gum to the face of the gummers, because of the fact that the roll employed for that purpose will at times slip and not revolve, thus removing the gum from the face of the gummers iny, stead of applying it thereto, and unless con siderable motion were given to the gummers it has been necessary to employ a very shallow gum reservoir, and heretofore a separate gum box has been employed to supply gum to the end flap gummer.

The objects of myinvention are to provide a machine which shall be free from the aforestruction herein set forth, whereby these ob jects are attained. v

In the accompanying drawings in which like letters and figures of reference indicate like parts: Figure 1 is a plan view of so much of Athe mechanism as may be necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same in section taken on line ou of Fig.

gum-box with bearingfor the gum-roll.

l. Fig. 3 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of 5o the end iap gummer mechanism as seen from the rear of the machine. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the same on a like scale as seen from the right of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail central section of the bearing and cap of the gum-roll in the gum-box. Fig. 6 is a perspective of the Fig. 7 is a perspective of the end-gummer, its gumming-roll and connectionsl In detail A indicates a plate fastened upon thev frames which-support the upper portion of the machine, B a stand forsupporting the gum reservoir, O a stand to support the end ap gummer mechanism, D the main gum box or reservoir, E a metal gum roll located in the reservoir, F a bar arranged across the top of the reservoir, G an intermediate gum roll, H the gum applying roll, I a gum distributing roll for the end flapgummerJ shaft, K rods forming ways for the boxes in which the main gumming roll is mounted, L supportsfor said ways, M support for bearings of intermediate roll G, N sliding boxes supporting bearings for applying roll H, O main gummers, P takeoff plate, Q gummer shaft, R rock shaft, S a frame in which the end iiap gummer is mounted, T friction plate, U connecting rod foroperating the frame S, V radial arms for giving motion to the boxes carrying the gum applying roll, W a -stand or support for the mechanism which applies the gum to the face of the end flap gummer.

y indicates a radial arm, b a connecting rod, d plates or Scrapers adj ustably arranged adjacent to the gum rollE usually termed doctors, c guide posts for the blanks, f a' centrally arranged bearing forming a partition and cap, g and j friction surfaces on intermediate roll G, h a movable fran1e,'andl friction surfaces on roll H, 7c a roll for supplying gum to the end flap-gummer, m a clamp or frame for supporting the rods upon which the friction plate is mounted, n springs, o end flap gummer, p shaft carrying the small gumming roll lo, r rods on which the-friction plate is mounted, s stud on frame S, t a lug on frame S and which moves frame h, u a pin projecting from radial arm a with which lug tengages, u shaft on which the frame 7L is pivotally mounted, w connecting rods, and y radial arm.

The construction and operation are as follows:

The plate A is mounted upon the machine in proper position and the guides e are located as in the ordinary machine to hold the envelope blanks in position, the blanks being fed upwardly through the guides in any convenient manner. At one side upon the plate A the stand .B is mounted, and upon this stand or support the gum box or reservoir D is secured in place. Upon the opposite side of the plate A a stand C is secured in position and upon the latter is mounted the end i'lap gumming mechanism. I mount an ordinary gum feeding roll E within the gum reservoir and at the front and back of the machine, `mounted in suitable supports L, are the rods K which serve as ways upon which the boxes N travel. The boxes N are provided with depending parts having suitable bearings for supporting the shaft of the gum applying roll H. The gummers O are mounted upon a vertical reciprocating shaft Q, in the-ordinary manner, and in the usual location, and a take oif plate I `is arranged as heretofore. Between the gummers O I arrange a friction plate T, the same being mounted upon rods fr which rods pass through openings in the frame or clamp fm, the upper ends being provided wi-th lock nuts, and these rodsare free to move upwardly but cannot mov-e downwardly beyond the limit allowed' by the position of the nuts on their ends, Mounted upon the rods o and located between the friction plate and the lower face of the portion of the frame through which the rods pass, I arrange springs n, which serve normally to force the plate T downwardly to the extent permitted by the adjusting nuts.

The roll H which is mounted in the bearings carried by the sliding boxes M, and which serves to apply the gum to the face of the gummers O, is provided at an intermediate point with a portion t', which portion does not receive gum,bnt is kept dry at all times, and I prefer that this portion should be separated from the rest of the roll to prevent danger of the gum flowing upon it by the employment of annular recesses, and as the applying roll Il is caused to traverse back and forth beneath the gummers the portionz' being in contact with the lower face of the friction plate T is caused to revolve, thus revolving the remainder of the roll therewith, and thus insu ring the uniform application of gum throughout the whole surface of the faces of the gummers, and overcoming the difficulty which has heretofore been experienced where the contact of `the roll surface with the surface of the gummers has been relied upon to cause the gum applying roll to revolve, as with such contact alone, especially Where the roll became heavily coated with thin gum, the roll would slide and scrape the face of the gummers instead of revolving and applying gum thereto. As it is desired to have as little motion as possible in t-he operation of the machine, thus avoiding wear and increasing the possibility of speed, it is requisite that the gummers be required to traverse as short a distance as possible, and as it is necessary that the gummers move a sufficient distance to allow the gum supplying roll to pass be: neath and in contact with them it is desired that the gum applying roll be lowered as far as possible,but it cannot be lowered in a machine of the ordinary construction below the center of the feed roll which is mounted in the gum reservoir, it being necessary that the applying roll be brought in contact with the feed roll to receive its supply of gum. Attempt has been made to overcome this di`iii culty by employing a very shallow reservoir. This is objectionable because of thefact that a sufficient supply of gu-m cannot be deposited therein, and if a supplementary `apparatus be employed to feed gum` to the reservoirit renders the machine more complicated and it has been found that in such construction the gum frequentlyoverliows. To overcome these difficulties and to enable'me at the same time to useareservoir of su-iticentdepth I em ploy an intermediateroll G, the-same be ing mounted in suitable hangersand arranged with its surface in contact with the feed roll E, and the intermediate roll in turn supplies the `gum `to the applying roll l-I whenever the surface of the two are in contact,and to insure the rotation of the supplying roll while in contact with the intermediate roll, the latter is providedwith afriction surface g, which when in contact with the surface i upon the roll H will insure the revolution of the latter. To preventthe distribution of the gum to the rollers except to the portions required, the bearing 2 of the gum-roller E is provided with a cap f, formed with side-flanges f which engage in annular grooves 3, formed in the roller G, and thus prevent the flowingofguln to the friction surface g. I prefer also to provide the intermediate roll and applying roll with additional friction .surfacesj and Z located at the ends of these rolls, though these will not be necessary in all cases. A rod or plate F extends across the top of the gum reservoir, and projecting downwardly therefrom are the metal plates d usually termed doctors, which prevent too much gum being taken up upon the surface of the feed roll E. By the arrangement of the rolls as described I am enabled to convey the gum from a deep reservoir to the intermediate roll and from thence to the applying roll `and lto maintain the applying roll in a greatly lowered position, thus lesseni'ng the motion -required of the gummers and parts connected therewith while using a deep gum reservoir. Reciprocating motion is given to the sliding boxes N through the connecting rods tu, one end ofeach of which is attached to one of the sliding boxes, the opposite endsbeing at- IIO tached to the radial arms V, which arms are mounted upon the rock shaft R. A radial arm y is mounted on the same rock shaft and a connecting rod b being pivotally attached thereto, is extended downward and receives motion from a cam mounted upon a rotatable shaft.

The construction and operation of the end Hap gummer are more clearly shown in Figs. 3 and lwherein is shown the frameS mounted to move vertically upon the support or stand C and having mounted in the overhanging arm vof said frame the end iap gum mer o, the lower end of which receives the gum and applies it to the end flap of the envelope. Fixed upon the upper part of the stand U is a supportW having a horizontally arranged shaft i; mounted therein,and upon this shaft is mounted a frame hhaving bearings within which is mounted a rotatable shaft p. A spiral spring is arranged upon the shaft o one end being attached to the shaft and the opposite end to the frame h, the tendency of which spring is to normally maintain the frame in its lowered position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and mounted upon the frame h is av radial arm a having a pin u projecting from its face. A lug t is mounted upon the movable frame S in such position as to engage the pin it when the frame is moved upwardly, thus causing the frame h to rotate on the shaft i; throwing the frame h forward to the position shown in full lines in the same ligure, and carrying the roll k mounted on the end of the shaftp under the face or lower end of the flap glimmer o, 'thus applying the gum to the end and as the frame S descends the end of the gummer is carried in contact with the envelope flap and-at the saine time the spiral spring operates to return the frame h to its normal position, thus bringing the roll 7c in contact with the roll I, from which the small roll k receives its supply of gum, and in turn the roll I receives its supply of gum from the supplying roll H in its forward stroke.

A friction surface e is provided and fixed upon the same shaft with the roll I and whenl the roll H is carried to the eXtreme length of its stroke as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 the two friction surfaces rand e'are brought in contact and thus the revolution of the roll H while in this position is insured. The shaft J is arranged to rotate the shafts which support the rolls E and I.

The frame S receives its motion through the operation of a connecting rod U pivotally connected to a stud s upon the frame S, the opposite end of which connecting rod receives motion through the operation of a cam or eccentric mounted upon a shaft in any convenient manner.

The office of the take-off plate P is well known to be that of separating the blanks from the face of the gummers in the upward stroke, and the object of mounting the friction plate upon movable supports is'to insure it occupying the desired lowered position during the time of the traverse of the gum applying roll across the face of the gummers, and' to allow it to be retracted and in no way interfere with the operation of the gummers when they are carried downward and in contact with the blanks. Gears 2 and 3 insure the positive rotation of the intermediate roll. It will be seen that in some machines the employment of the friction plate may be dispensed with and the friction surface upon the rolls still be employed for the purpose of causing them to rotate while in contact, and a very beneficial result thereby attained.

The roll I serves not only to supply gum to the roll carrying the gum to the end liap gummer, but it also serves to uniformly distribute the gum which may be upon the applying roll H while in contact with it, thus insuring the uniform application of the gum to 'the` surface of one of the main gummers during the return as well as the forward traverse of the applying roll. The necessity for rendering the application of the gum to the face of one of the main gummers more uniformly than tothe face of the other is seen in the fact that the one applies gum to the flap forming-the lower portion of the envelope, or in other words the portion which is permanently sealed to the adjacent end liaps While the other main gumm'er applies the adhesive to the edge of the iiap which remains to be sealed when the envelope is used,and while it is found that sufficieutgumwill be applied during either the forward or return traverse of the applying roll to cause the parts receiv- IOC ing gum to adhere if immediately broughtV I aportion of the u nsealed flap be partly gummed,orin otherwords the unsealed flap be not uniformly gummed this fact lessens the v commercial value of the goods, and to ren-l der the application of the gum to the un-v sealed flap uniform throughout I deem it advisable to make provision for distributing the gum upon the surface of the applyingI roll which performs this function at each interval before passing across the gu mmer face and one purpose, therefore,.of the employment of the distributing roll I, as before stated, is to redistribute the gum, upon one portion of the surface of the applying roll H prior to its return traverse, thus rendering the distribution upon this portion of the applying roll uniform without the employment of more than one gum reservoir. The roll I is preferably of metal and the applying roll H is of rubber or other suitable composition and as the roll I has a fresh supply of gum lbrought to it by the roll H at each alternate revolution of the machine the gum upon the roll I is always kept in a suitable condition to work properly, and if at any one revolution the roll H should deliver a surplus of gum to the roll I and should at the next revolution i ing a friction surface opposite tha-t portion of the feed-roll in the covered bearing, a gumapplyingroll provided with a friction surface to register with the friction-surface-on the intermediate roll While the gumming-surfaces' of itihetwo `rolls are incontact, substantially as shownand described.

2.` The combination in a'gumining-mach-ine,` `of the `gummersa friction plate secured to the gummer-frame between thegu'mmers, agumapplyingroll provided with a central friction 5 surface to beairfen the friction plate, whereby the lroll is rotated when traversing the gummers and friction plate and means to apply i gum to the gum-applying roll, substantially as described.

3. I=n a machine for ,gumming envelopesj the combination of the gumrners, a frictionplate `located between the gummers, springs` to press the plate down, means to adjust the plate `and regulate theftension of the springs agnim-applyi ng rollhaving a portion arranged to contact with the friction-plate and rotate the roll when passing back and forth under the gummers, a `gum-box, and a gum-roll to supply gum to said supplying-roll, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a` machine for gumming blanks, the

combination, `with the gum-box, a gum-roller i in the gum-box, gummers, and gum-applying roll, of a distributing roll extending but partially the length of the gum-applying roll and placed nponthe opposite side of the gummers from the gum-box and rotated by contact with the gum-applying roll of the machine, substantially as and `for the purpose specified.

5. In a machine for gumming blanks, the combination of a gum-box, gummers, a feedroll in the gum-box, a gum-applying roll an end ap gumming-roll, a rollI to receive gum from the gum-applying roll and deliver it to `the end-flap gumming roll, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a machine for gumming envelope blanks, an end-flap glimmer composed of a pivotally supported frame, an arm on the frame provided with a pin, an end-flap gumming-roll journaled in the swinging-frame, a gummer for receiving and placing the gum upon the paper, and a vertically movable frame provided with a lug to engagethe lug "in the swinging frame, whereby thegurnming roll is broughtinto contact with the-gnmmer.

7. The combination in agumming-machine, of a vertically movable `frame `S provided with a lug, a gummer 0 inthe frame S, a swingingfrarne h on a stationary support W, and provided with a pin to engage the `lugon the frame S and swing the frame, a shaft p jouryualed inthe frame h, a gumming-rollk on the shaft h, a spring to forcethe fra-me away from l the gum mer, and a roll to supply gum to the roller 7o, as specified.`

8. I'n a' machine `for `gufmming envelope blanks the combination of `verticallymovin g gummers, a -deep gum reservoir, a feed roll arranged to revolve therein, an intermediate roll arranged in contact with thefeed roll and revolvingwith its lowest part above thecenter of the feed roll and an `applying roll arranged to be moved horizontally across the gummer faces ina plane below the axis of the intermediate roll and to be brought intermittently `in contact therewith substantially as shown.

9. In a machine for gumming envelope blanks thecombination with a vertically moving frame S having a gummer oand lugtfastened thereon, of a swinging frame h carrying a gummer rolland provided with an varm and pin in the path of the hook/to be engaged at every upward movement of the same, thereby swinging the gumming roll up into contact with the gummer face substantiallyas shown.

10. The gum-box, the gum-roller therein, the distributing-roller G formed with a centrall friction portion g, the gum-applying roll H having the central friction-portion t', the gu miners and the roller I having the frictionportion c, arranged and combined as specitied.

CHARLES H. HEYWOOD. Witnesses:

ALLEN WEBsTER, E. M. TOWER.

IOO 

